Taco Stuffed Peppers
Taco Stuffed Peppers is the easy viral recipe you’ve probably seen on YouTube or Tik Tok that is made with cheese, ground beef, quinoa or rice, enchilada sauce and taco seasoning.
Taco Stuffed Peppers Recipe
If you follow this blog, you already know that I’ve got a lot of Mexican and Tex Mex inspired recipes here.
To say that my family is Mexican food crazy is an understatement. We love easy, flavorful Mexican food!!
This recipe has to be one of our favorites because its a fun way to get dinner on the table in under an hour and get your veggies in too!
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I’ve even used ground venison and ground pork in this recipe to change up the flavors.
If your fam isn’t crazy for black beans, you can easily substitute chili beans or pinto beans – still super delicious.
You can substitute any type of grain for the quinoa if you prefer, such as white rice, brown rice, pearled sorghum, farro, or barley.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
Stuffed Peppers
- Lean ground beef
- Your favorite taco seasoning
- Red enchilada sauce (or make your own enchilada sauce)
- Red wine vinegar
- Corn
- Black beans
- Green chilies
- Quinoa
- Bell peppers
- Shredded cheddar cheese or Colby jack cheese
Chipotle Crema Dip
- Ranch dressing
- Mayonnaise
- Minced chipotle or chipotle sauce
How to Make Taco Stuffed Peppers
Prehead the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a skillet over median high heat, cook and crumble the ground beef with the taco seasoning.
Cook until the beef is fully cooked throughout and no pink remains.
Drain any fats that accumulate.
Stir in the enchilada sauce, vinegar, corn, black beans, green chilies, and cooked quinoa or rice.
Place the bell pepper halves into a greased 9×13 baking pan.
Using a cookie dough scoop, fill each bell pepper half with as much of the prepared enchilada filling as it can hold, mounding it up slightly.
Place the pan of peppers into the oven, uncovered, on the center oven rack.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the bell peppers reach the desired tenderness and the filling is hot and bubbly.
Sprinkle with cheese during the last 10 minutes of the baking time.
Serve the stuffed bell peppers warm, topped with Chipotle Crema, as desired.
WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH THE FILLING I HAVE LEFTOVER AFTER STUFFING THE PEPPERS?
The leftover over filling makes a fantastic dip.
Serve it warm with tortilla chips. Or, make wraps with the leftover filling using flour tortillas – yummy!!
CAN YOU FREEZE STUFFED BELL PEPPERS?
Yes, the texture of the bell pepper is slightly different, but still delicious.
I bake my stuffed bell peppers from frozen, reducing the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
Add 10-15 minutes to the cooking time or until the filling is good and hot throughout (160-165 degrees F.)
HOW CAN I STRETCH THE GROUND BEEF FILLING TO MAKE MORE?
Such a great question. I like to make this filling go further by adding more cooked quinoa to the mix.
I often double the amount of quinoa and then add more red enchilada sauce (as needed) or even a can of tomato sauce.
This way, the filling is still flavorful and saucy, and the added quinoa stretches my food dollars so I can keep more bellies full and happy.
MORE FAVORITE MEXICAN FOOD RECIPES TO ENJOYÂ
This easy Taco Tater Tot Casserole is easy and my family loves it.
Bubble Up Taco Casserole is a brand new recipe that I just posted, and so is Taco Chicken Rice Casserole….both are delicious 9×13 Mexican casseroles made from simple on-hand ingredients.Â
I hope you’ll give Sizzle Steak Sheet Pan Nachos a try soon, and please don’t overlook Instant Pot Ground Meat Nacho Dip if you’ve got a gathering coming up soon.Â
- LOW-CARB CRUSTLESS TACO PIE
- AIR FRYER FREESTYLE MEXICAN PIZZAS
- MEXICAN CHEESE BREADÂ
- INSTANT POT MEXICAN STREET CORN WITH PARMESANÂ
Taco Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
Beefy Enchilada Bell Peppers
- 1/2 lb. lean ground beef any ground meat will work great, such as ground turkey, venison, bison etc
- 1 Tbs. of your favorite taco seasoning
- 10 oz. can red enchilada sauce
- 1 tsp. red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup sweet corn canned or frozen
- 1 cup black beans drained and rinsed
- 4 oz. can diced fire-roasted green chilies
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 4 sweet bell peppers, any color cut in half lengthwise, seeds and membranes removed
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Your favorite Mexican food garnishments, such as sour cream, guacamole, salsa, cilantro, etc.
Chipotle Crema
- 1/2 cup ranch dressing
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2-3 tsp. minced chipotles or chipotle sauce or more, depending on how spicy you prefer
Instructions
Prepare the Stuffed Bell Peppers
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In skillet over medium high heat, cook and crumble the ground beef with the taco seasoning until the beef is fully cooked throughout and no pink remains; drain any fats that accumulate.
- Stir in the enchilada sauce, vinegar, corn, black beans, green chilies, and cooked quinoa.
- Place the bell pepper halves into a greased 9×13 baking pan. Using a cookie dough scoop, fill each bell pepper half with as much of the prepared enchilada filling as it can hold, mounding it up slightly. **Note: You will likely have some leftover filling. This makes a fantastic dip to serve with tortilla chips, fyi.
- Place the pan of peppers into the oven, uncovered, on the center oven rack. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the bell peppers reach the desired tenderness and the filling is hot and bubbly. Sprinkle with cheese during the last 10 minutes of the baking time. Garnish as desired with the Chipotle Crema and serve.
Prepare the Chipotle Crema
- In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients until smooth; refrigerate until ready to use.